Improvement in sewing-machines



2 Sheets-Sheet 1. S. H. ROPtR.

Sewing Machine.

,UNITED STATES` PATE-NT Ottieni..A

s. npnornn, or RoXBURv, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN ISEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 18,522, dated October277, 1857.

To all vwhom, t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, S. H. ROPER, of Roxbury, county of Norfolk, andState of Mass/achusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement onthe Sewing-Machine; and I do hereby declare that th e following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe annexed drawings, making a part of this specification.

Each letter of reference will designate the same part in the severaldrawings.

In the specification of my machine, Figurel is a perspective view. Fig.2 is a side sectional'elevation. Fig. 3 is a top view of the machineryimmediately under the top of the table. Fig. 4 is a bottom view of saidmachine. Fig. 5 is an end sectional view of the arm in which theneedle-bar plays. an end view of the feeding apparatus; Fig. 7, anenlarged view of the needle.` Fig'. 8 illustrates the several stages ofthe formation of the stitch, and the three kinds of stitch which mymachine will make.

In specifying the parts of said machine, A

represents a table or stand, to which most of.

the machinery is attached. B is an arm, fastened onto said table,containing the needlebar, which gives motion to the same; also thecloth-presser. G is the ily-wheel, upon the upper side of which is cutthe cam to give motion to the needle, and also the cam to give motion tothe thread-guide. D is the lever, working the needle-bar. E is theneedle-bar. F is the feed-lever. G is the feed-wheel. H is the crank. Iis the handle to the crank. K is a friction-spring for the feed-wheel. ais the needle. bis the cloth-presser. c is a lever to raise thecloth-presser. d is a spring to hold the cloth-presserdown on the cloth.e e

` are two plates nicely tted into the groove f l in the feed-wheel.

g is a short lever, one end of which is attached to the feed-lever, andthe other end has a projection, t', which extends in between the twoplates c e in such manner that when the feed-lever F is moved either waythe projection 'i will press the .plates e e hard against the sides ofthe groove f, so that they will not' slip in it, but will cause thefeedwheel to turn round when the lever g is thus moved. 7L and j are twosprings to keep the projection fi stationary until it binds the plates ee. k is a stud on which the feed-wheel turns. Z and m are two screws inthe sides of the feeding. c is lever, and so arranged that the cam owill p, and is used in connection with the cam o and the two screws mand p in sewing the running-stitch.

q is a rod, one end of which is fastened into the cylinder s, which isfitted movably onto the hub of the fly-wheel C, and the other end isformed into a hook, r, and extends up to the upper side of theily-wheel, at the edge, through a place cut out suitably for it to playin. This hook is to take the thread out of the hook of the needle andcarry it sufficiently far around the edge" of the iiywheel that the endmay pass entirely through the cloth each stitch that is sewed. On theopposite side of the cylinder s is a rod t, upon which is fitted amovable block, w, with a set-screw in it. spring, n, the other end ofwhich is fastened to the under surface of the fly-wheel, and allarranged in such manner that the springe will keep the rod q and thehook r in the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4 relatively to theflywheel, yet so that said hook will yield a little, and even pass backto the position 1" before the thread will break in case the threadshould be too tight in the cloth to slip through it without breakinguntil the needle withdraws. The nut u is adjustable, and when it is nearthe other end of the rod t it gives a greater, and when near thecylinder s gives a less, spring-force to the hook o".

to is a small slide or thread-guide fitted movably into the under sideof the plate J,.with a roll, fw', projecting downward from one end intothe groove w, in such manner that the slide w is operated thereby. Attheend of said slide, near the needle, there is a small projection, x,so formed that when the slide w is moved toward the needle theprojection x will press against the side of the springt, so as to holdthe thread between them, and to keep it tense, and thereby moreeffectually guide it into the hook of the needle. z is the cloth.

Having described the several parts of my machine, I will proceed toeXplain'its operation.

To this block is attached a XVe will suppose the machine is turned by-moving the crank H to such position as will bring the needle to itshighest position above the cloth z, as seen in example l, Fig. 8. rI`hethread N is there taken from the spool N', carried around thescrew-handle d', and then placed Ain one of the hooks of the needle a,which said needle is formed with two hooks for the purpose of carryingthe thread bothA ways through the cloth, as shown in a front and sideview, on alarge scale, in Fig. 7. The

machine is then turned to the position shown in Figs. l, 2, 3, and 4t,which brings the needle to its lowest position, carrying the threadthrough the cloth with it, and by turning the machine a little fartherthe needle begins to rise up, causing the thread to spread out from itssides and form a loop for the hook 1' to pass into, as seen in example2, Fig. 8. The hook r then in its passage round takes the thread out ofthe hook ofthe needle and draws the loose end entirely through the clothand leaves it on the upper side of the y-wheel, near the edge, in aplace cut out to receive it, close underneath the cloth. In the meantimethe cam o presses against the screw on, causing the feed-lever F to movethe lever y toward the spring j, which prevents the said lever frommoving untilit has caused the plates e e to bind inthe groove f, andthereby cause the feed-wheel Gand the cloth which is pressed upon theupper side of it by the cloth-presser b to move with it, carrying theneedle, the cloth, andthe thread to the position shown in Example 3,Fig. 8. Next movement of the machine carries the needle down. Thethread-guide w is then moved toward the needle, (though a little to oneside of it,) causing the proj ection x to press the thread against thespring y, which is passed between them by the hook r, which holds itlirm, while the thread-guide moves still farther and wraps the threadpartly around the needle, causing it to pass into the hooks of theneedle when they come up even with the said thread, as shown in Example4. Next movement of the machine passes the needle up and the threadalong with it, and the cloth is fed' in a contrary direction from thatpreviously described,- and only half the distance, by means of the cam opressing against the screw Z, causing the lever g to move toward thespring h, which prevents its moving until it has caused the plates e eto bind in the groove f, causing the fced-wheel and the cloth-resting onit to move with said lever, as before described, only in a contrarydirection, andhalf as far, which brings the needle, cloth, and thread tothe position shown in Example 5. Thus in the formation of every stitchin sewing what is called the backstitch the cloth is fed twice thelength of the stitchforward and once thelength ofthe stitch back, asdescribed, and shown at Example 8. In 'sewing the half-back stitch, asshown at Example 9, the cloth is fed back only onethird the distance ofthe forward feeding, and in sewing the running-stitch, seen in Example10, the cloth is fed forward the length of a stitch in the formation ofeach stitch without backfeeding by means of the cams 0 and n pressingagainst the screws m and p, causing the feedlever and the lever g tomove in the direction of the spring h every half-round of the machine,and moving the feed-wheel, as before described. At next movement of themachine the needle carries the thread down and rises up a little,forming a loop, and the hook r passing into said loop, as shown atExample 6, which is the same as Example 2, except that another stitchhasbeen sewed. At next movement the needle rises up, the hook r takesthe thread through the cloth and around the flywheel, bringing theneedle, the cloth, and the thread in the positions shown in example 7.

The needle and the needle-bar get their motion from the cani D throughthe bent lever D and the link E', which connects the lever D with theneedle-bar. I will say, further, with regard to my feed, that simply alever, g, with its projection t' in the groove f so arranged as almostto fill the groove, has been used before, but without success, as thelever, from the small amount of surface in contact with the groove, willinvariably wear so loose that it will not move the feed-wheel withregularity; but I have entirely overcome this difficulty by the use o fthe plates e e.' The friction-spring 7c prevents the feed-wheel fromturning until it is impelled by the lever g.

After having thus described my machine and the operation thereof, what Iclaim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The feeding of the cloth alternately in opposite directions, for thepurposes herein specified, and in the way described, or in anyequivalent manner. h

2. The use of the two plates c e, for the purpose of giving uniformityto the length ofthe stitches by preventing the wearing of the lever g,as described.

3. I do not claim the hook r for the purpose of taking the threadthrough the cloth, as has before been used; but what I claim is theyielding force ofthe hook 1*, which will allow said hook to remainstationary, if the thread does not readily pass through the cloth, untilthe needle is withdrawn, as herein described.

4. I do not claim the double hook and needle, or the use of it, intaking the thread both ways through the cloth; but what I claim is thecombination of the doublehooked needle and the hook r, for the purposesherein specified, all substantially as herein described.

S. H. ROPER.

